LINE 6 VARIAX WORKBENCH (editor/librarian software)

[seclusion]

The POd family has just recieved a major update. now you can also plug in your bass and lay down some tracks using a "bass pack" expansion which adds, some well known bass amps and cab emulations (a cool $99 add-on) if you ask me. So I have no idea if line 6 could add more guitars into the Variax! We have a pretty damn good start already! Workbench in a live setting would be pretty wierd! I save my patches with th XT Live so I can have eg. a Strat using a marshall 900 series amp with a line 6 4 X 10 cab! Then switch to an Martin acoustic with no amp simulation and no cabs for that "just acoustic" sound. Click the foot pedal and everything changes! I suspect that it's possible that the Variax may only have "space" to hold so many guitars onboard. But I can't see why we couldn't have 50 guitar emulations saved in workbench and save the ones you like on the Variax. Anyway the more I use the Variax and the XTLive combo the more I'm liking it! I'm soon going to get a Traynor K4 keyboard amp to have a better recorded sound. Currently if I record direct it sounds totally different when I use my Crate amp! The keyboard amp is more full range. So I can have the same patch for live and in the studio. Just something to think about that obviously it's tough to make all these emulations play back the same through the many different types of amp combo's out there!
Later

[percyexpat]

well i see no technical reason why they could not. the variax has limited memory of course but with workbench i believe you can add and remove guitar presets so i see no reason why you couldnt load new models into workbench and copy them across. the list is reasonably comprehensive but there is of course a very strong strong country feel to it that i cant relate to for one. the medium has so much potential, im surprised it hasnt been expanded more really...the gibson digital guitar seems to have disappeared...havnt heard much about that lately. im very excited about the customisability. maybe its just the nerd in me and maybe this level of tweaking actually makes no effective difference to the sound but id still like more

[Cor]

VPIM ( Variax Patch Information Manager )

VPIM is FREEWARE

VPIM is a utility special for users who have a Line6 Variax guitar and the Variax Workbench software package just like me, i have a lefthanded Variax 500 ;-)
This util saves me lot of time, instead of loading different patches into Workbench, i can now easily search for all patches which have e.g. Special Bird Body with T-Model Bridge and pickups which are switched in series and are in phase. Now try that for yourself in Workbench.


What can it do:
+ Open a directory with your single patches (*.vwm) and all will be loaded into VPIM
+ Show useable patch information, Variax Workbench is not needed.
+ Search for a combination of Author, BodyType, PickupType, search if pickups are
switches in series or parallell , search for pickups which are in phase or out of phase
search for patches which have alternate tunings or default tunings
+ Copy found patches with search to a directory you want.
+ Double click on a patch will automatically launch Variax Workbench in editor mode
if installed.
+ Latest opened patch directory will be saved.

+ Does not wite to registry
+ Small exe + No DLL's needed
+ runs from USB Stick
+ Workbench is not needed to show information of patches.


You can download it for FREE at: (~150KB)

http://webdisk.planet.nl/viss3248/publiek/album/variax-vpim.zip

gr.

Cor de Visser
Auhtor of Super Guitar Chord Finder
http://www.ready4music.com
http://www.chordplanet.com

[MoreGuitars]

Originally posted by seclusion The POd family has just recieved a major update. now you can also plug in your bass and lay down some tracks using a "bass pack" expansion which adds, some well known bass amps and cab emulations (a cool $99 add-on) if you ask me. So I have no idea if line 6 could add more guitars into the Variax! We have a pretty damn good start already! Workbench in a live setting would be pretty wierd! I save my patches with th XT Live so I can have eg. a Strat using a marshall 900 series amp with a line 6 4 X 10 cab! Then switch to an Martin acoustic with no amp simulation and no cabs for that "just acoustic" sound. Click the foot pedal and everything changes! I suspect that it's possible that the Variax may only have "space" to hold so many guitars onboard. But I can't see why we couldn't have 50 guitar emulations saved in workbench and save the ones you like on the Variax. Anyway the more I use the Variax and the XTLive combo the more I'm liking it! I'm soon going to get a Traynor K4 keyboard amp to have a better recorded sound. Currently if I record direct it sounds totally different when I use my Crate amp! The keyboard amp is more full range. So I can have the same patch for live and in the studio. Just something to think about that obviously it's tough to make all these emulations play back the same through the many different types of amp combo's out there! Later

 

 

I added the Bass Expansion pack to the XT Live and I love it. It really now is a great self contained guitar/bass recording unit.

[Jealousblues]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned this, but if you have a PODXT live and a Variax you can just download the workbench software for free from line6's site and just run the usb through your XL live and use the line 6 VDI (or a regular cat5) to your variax.

[Anderton]

Yes, that was mentioned, but thanks anyway!

[whiskers]

just became aware of this forum..very nice..I own one of the first early 300's and I like the action that it came with, from the factory...unplugged the strings ring all the way up , however when it is connected all the acoustic sounds especially the 12 string have that "fretting out" sound from the 7th fret up...company suggested taking it to a luthier, nothing else...as an experiment I raised the strings as high as they would go just to hear the extremes and it helped somewhat but the results were not satisfactory...and of course left the instrument unplayable...I bought the workbench software thinking maybe it would help..could this be a software glitch ...any other suggestions I can consider?

[TheniCk]

hi, I'm a Variax 700 and POD XTL owner and ave never been as happy than now I can experience these marvelous products for my own creations.
But there are a few famous guitar models (such as Gibson SG for example) that are not implemented in the original package (excuse my english... i'm french).
I just can't set them by myself (God knows I tried) so I'm looking for a place where I could share and/or find new tones for my Variax. Unfortunately, Line6 Website (the Club) gives many POD presets, but not a single Variax preset. First I'd like to know if there's a reason for that, and second where I can share and/or find such tones (*.vwm files, as far as I know). All my researches on the web have been unsuccessfull
Thx
NiCk

[EDIT] Sorry, Andy, I didn't see your message up there... I visited the institute of noise and found a few interresting patches... 'm gonna try them and hope to be back to tell you about . Thx again NiCk

[Anderton]

I also posted some patches earlier in this thread...try page 2.

[markwayne]

Well, given the price reduction on the 300 series, I thought I'd give one a try as a giggle. Now keep in mind that I wasn't expecting much. The guitar is packaged and feels like a toy. I'm pretty good at staying open minded. So I took it out, tuned it up and played it for a bit. It would certainly never become my go to instrument, but it's reasonably playable. I would say it plays and feels like a ~$200 guitar.

 

Now, I finally plugged it in. It's really not bad sounding. I'll be keeping it. I'm sure it will find a use. I also happen to own a few of the guitars being modeled here. I did some side by side comparisons for fun. I tested my Martin, Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Explorer and 12 string against the Variax and would have to say that these are certainly not replicas by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I would not call these models as much as charactures of a given guitar. (In the case of the Martin D-28, I think they might have confused it with a Martin Thinline pickup on a Martin.) Obviously, the Line6 guys choose the least subtle attributes of each guitar and placed them front and center. And this is a good thing. Look, the reason most people want a specific guitar for a specific part is for the perceived tonal signature. Well, this guitar gives you an extreme version of that tonal signature. This could be great for those times when someone complains that your '67 Strat doesn't sound "Stratty" enough. (Hey, trust me, it happens.) The other big advantage is that if you are just starting out and trying to find your voice, you could find the model that works best for your style and save up for the real thing down the road thereby saving years of buying up expensive real guitars. I would have to give this little thing a thumbs up. In spite of my reservations, I applaud the effort and think they are on to something here. Although, I for one, think it would be best to dispense with the modeling old instruments and get on to making something completely new. I look forward to playing around with this Workbench software and see what kind of new noise is possible.

 

Wayne

[Vettaville.nl]

FYI Information there are now Workbench guides / tutuorials available for anyone interested. (work in progress)

http://www.vettaville.nl/vvworkbenchtutorials.html

[Why?]

I’ve been playing (at) guitar since I was around 13 years old. I’m pushing 60 now so you can do the math. Over those years I’ve owned or extensively played many of the guitar modeled in the Variax. In those yars I’ve played many styles of music in several different bands from my early county music background, through the 60’s and 70’s and finally and comfortably settled into the blues style that I’ve been playing for the past 20 years or so. I gave up playing live a while back and bought myself a little Boss BR1200 recorder and have found a whole new interest in that but I found that my Custom Shop strat and my Yamaha bass left a lot to be desired in wishing for lots of variation in my recording project. So I looked at the Variax as a answer to this. I took a chance (after playing a beat-up 300 at the local mega guitar store) and bought a 600 online. I was very happy with the sounds I got from this guitar. As a recording tool the Variax is exceptional. I eventually returned the 600 (it had a piezo problem) and upgraded to a 700. At the same time I bought a POD XTL and with these two simple tools my recordings have come alive. The models sound very good to my (old) ears. I especially like the resonator models for some of the more traditional blues songs I play.
Just a note….I did a comparision with the “spank” setting on the Variax with my Fender CSCC ’60 strat and it was very close.
Anyway, sorry to be so wordy here but I just had to put in my 2 cents worth on the subject of Variax.
I will probably get Workbench soon and see what other sounds I can come up with.

[Vettaville.nl]

Anyway, sorry to be so wordy here but I just had to put in my 2 cents worth on the subject of Variax. I will probably get Workbench soon and see what other sounds I can come up with.

 

 

When you have the PODxtl (or Vetta) and Variax you can download the workbench app. for free from Line 6's website. You only need the VDI cable to connect to your PODxtl (maybe you already have that).

 

So there's no need to buy the USB version (unless you want to).

 

Hope it helps

Regards

Hans

[JB1592]

Well, given the price reduction on the 300 series, I thought I'd give one a try as a giggle. Now keep in mind that I wasn't expecting much. The guitar is packaged and feels like a toy. I'm pretty good at staying open minded. So I took it out, tuned it up and played it for a bit. It would certainly never become my go to instrument, but it's reasonably playable. I would say it plays and feels like a ~$200 guitar. Now, I finally plugged it in. It's really not bad sounding. I'll be keeping it. I'm sure it will find a use. I also happen to own a few of the guitars being modeled here. I did some side by side comparisons for fun. I tested my Martin, Les Paul, Strat, Tele, Explorer and 12 string against the Variax and would have to say that these are certainly not replicas by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I would not call these models as much as charactures of a given guitar. (In the case of the Martin D-28, I think they might have confused it with a Martin Thinline pickup on a Martin.) Obviously, the Line6 guys choose the least subtle attributes of each guitar and placed them front and center. And this is a good thing. Look, the reason most people want a specific guitar for a specific part is for the perceived tonal signature. Well, this guitar gives you an extreme version of that tonal signature. This could be great for those times when someone complains that your '67 Strat doesn't sound "Stratty" enough. (Hey, trust me, it happens.) The other big advantage is that if you are just starting out and trying to find your voice, you could find the model that works best for your style and save up for the real thing down the road thereby saving years of buying up expensive real guitars. I would have to give this little thing a thumbs up. In spite of my reservations, I applaud the effort and think they are on to something here. Although, I for one, think it would be best to dispense with the modeling old instruments and get on to making something completely new. I look forward to playing around with this Workbench software and see what kind of new noise is possible. Wayne

 

 

 

Some of the way the 300 sounds may well be due to the way that the guitar itself sounds.

 

This little tidbit about how the Variax works is applicable to those that would like to "trigger" synth sounds as well.

 

The Variax is not a synthesizer. None of Line 6's guitar stuff is. It all uses DSP, digital signal processing. The difference is that it manipulates the sound generated by your guitar, it doesn't convert it to a digital representation of your playing. It's all about shaping and filtering the original sound. Synth guitars on the other hand interpret the analog signal from the strings to generate a MIDI signal which contains only a digital data representation of what you played, not what it sounded like (ie; Note On command, A4, velocity of 93, etc...). That digital representation is then used in the generation of a completely new sound that does not contain any actual component of the original sound. The new sound can be generated via various signal generators and modulations, or you could trigger a prerecorded sample sound, but in either case the new waveform has no actual sound content from the original so what it sounded like doesn't really matter much.

 

DSP like Line 6 does on the other hand is a somewhat different animal. The new sound is created by manipulating (equalizing, filtering, modulating, etc) the original so your end result depends quite a bit on what you start off with. So the fact that the 300 sounds a bit off may be largely due to the fact that the guitar itself isn't very good. (For that matter, I don't know if the electronics are up to par compared to the pricier models either)

 

Where that applies to synth sounds is in exactly what you can do. First off, I doubt you'll ever get a convincing organ or piano or flute sound out of it if that's the kind of thing you're going for. You also couldn't really use sustain pedals or anything of that sort. Really, the same kind of synth effects that are already in the XT Live are the only sort of stuff you'd be able to do with a vax. However, you could always add MIDI capabilities to a vax (either via a mounted GK style pickup or if you're really technically inclined and not afraid of destroying the thing you could tap off the piezo output and send it to another board internally) and use it in conjunction with Roland or Axon synth unit or the like.

 

Another bit regarding using the VDI connection to send individual strings to a XTL (or any other device for that matter) is that it's really not possible. The Variax is communicating digitally with the XTL when connected that way, but only for patch changes and manipulating the DSP parameters (pickup type, placement, etc.). The actual guitar sound is sent on a separate wire as an analog signal. Actually, I think I recall someone disconnecting the audio signal from the VDI connector so they could use for control only in a guitar that also used magnetic pickups. They then used a regular guitar cable to carry the audio to the Vetta II (either the vax output or magnetic, depending on a switch setting). At least, I believe that's how they had it setup. It's been a while since I've seen it, but it was definitely interesting.

[rustyfortner]

I recently purchased a Line 6 Variax 600 and Pod X3 Live. Dig 'em. I went to L6.com and downloaded Workbench, Gearbox, Monkey, drivers and Java Runtime Environment. I burned all these to cd-r and loaded them into the computer into which I'm running my signals. This computer doesn't have an internet connection. The Gearbox loaded and pulls up just fine. However, when I try to access Workbench, (one of the main reasons I bought all this stuff in the first place) all I get is an annoying 'can't find valid Java' type of message. My question is; Do I have to have an internet connection for drivers/firmware to use Workbench?
I'm using an hp media center pc with a pentium 4 running at about 2.5 Ghz and 2gb of ram.

[bendafender]

I recently purchased a Line 6 Variax 600 and Pod X3 Live. Dig 'em. I went to L6.com and downloaded Workbench, Gearbox, Monkey, drivers and Java Runtime Environment. I burned all these to cd-r and loaded them into the computer into which I'm running my signals. This computer doesn't have an internet connection. The Gearbox loaded and pulls up just fine. However, when I try to access Workbench, (one of the main reasons I bought all this stuff in the first place) all I get is an annoying 'can't find valid Java' type of message. My question is; Do I have to have an internet connection for drivers/firmware to use Workbench? I'm using an hp media center pc with a pentium 4 running at about 2.5 Ghz and 2gb of ram.

 

Make sure you are using the JRE version of 1.5. You can download it here:

http://java.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=12839

 

Workbench has a problem with the latest versions of the Java Runtime Environment.

[ZZedmonds]

Thanks for all of the great info on the subject. I have been blown away by the vesatility of my Variax and the Gearbox software. I can't wait to try the Workbench. It is easy to justify with the wife because it has really curbed my horse trading like Guitar habit!

Any caveats for a Vista 64 user?

[Mandy_tRoses]

i love my variax, so versatile

[Mu5icManiak]

Hi Anderton, just wanted to thank you for your posts...still handy in 2009 for those of us who joined the POD party late. The patches posted earlier in the thread are great.

[m6255]

Sold mine years ago

[m6255]

I have been using workbench for years. But I have installed it into Vista 64. The main page shows up but I can't view the editor. Anyone have the same issue?

[Anderton]

Hi Anderton, just wanted to thank you for your posts...still handy in 2009 for those of us who joined the POD party late. The patches posted earlier in the thread are great.

You're very welcome!

Yes, I have a very cool job

[boons]

I have been using workbench for years. But I have installed it into Vista 64. The main page shows up but I can't view the editor. Anyone have the same issue?

The WB seems to be very particular to which Java RTE you're using. I have JS2SE 5.0 Update 4 32-bit on my Vista 64 machine, and WB works fine. Later versions (including 64-bit) didn't work for me.

[uitar9]

I have a Hagstrom 335 clone and am tempted to put S.D. P-Rails into it.

Seemed natural to plug the variax 600 into workbench and build the on-line equivalent to test it out.

Sounds great: P.A.F. HB's, P-90's and single coils all in a 335 through the xtl and a 5:25 mesa. Now to try it out in the band setting

You have to like what you can do with a variax, a line 6 pedal board and workbench

[englishjw]

Since I didn't hear anything from NAMM and LINE 6 hasn't posted any new information, has anyone heard about the progress of the next generation of Variax electronics?